Last month we announced our new format for the OCW Consortium newsletter. Each month we will send out a short newsletter with upcoming events and brief updates from members around the world, and four times a year the newsletter will feature more in-depth coverage of a topic of interest to the OCW community. Please send your news items, events and suggestions to: newsletter@ocwconsortium.org.
Updates:
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, the OCW Consortium’s communications to its members soon will be translated into different languages Please go to www.oeconsortium.org and log into your account to select the language in which you prefer to receive our communications. If you can volunteer a few hours translating documentation into your own language, please email feedback@ocwconsortium.org.
The University of Cape Town, a new member of the OCW Consortium, launched its Open UCT site at a kick-off event on February 12. Representatives from several South African universities as well as the OCW Consortium’s Board of Directors and staff were present to celebrate this milestone for UCT. For more information, see the UCT website at: opencontent.uct.ac.za
The University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town and the OpenCourseWare Consortium co-sponsored a symposium on “OER and OCW in South African Higher Education.” Both the international and South African contexts were presented by panelists from a variety of institutions, including representatives from the OCW Consortium’s Board of Directors.
Communities of interest forming: We have heard from many members who would like an active space to exchange viewpoints and information on areas of common interest such as Agriculture, Health, OER and OCW for Community Colleges or for Secondary Education. If you are interested in forming or participating in such groups, please contact us at feedback@ocwconsortium.org.
The OCW Consortium held its Jan/Feb Board meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 10-11. Nearly all Board members from around the world were able to attend. Discussions focused on the upcoming global meeting in Vietnam, updates on work done by committees and staff, and future directions for the organization.
Election’s coming up! The OCW Board of Directors will need to fill 6 seats through elections this year. Over the coming two weeks, our Membership Services Coordinators will be contacting each member institution to confirm its primary contact and certifier for the election. Look for an e-mail requesting nominations by March 10. Nominations will close on March 26, and ballots will be open for voting from April 7-23.
Gary Matkin, Treasurer of the OCW Consortium, was selected for the Excellence in Achievement award by the Cal Alumni Association at UC Berkeley. You can find more information here.
Upcoming Events
Call For Proposals now closed: Thank you to all of you who submitted proposals for presentations at OCW Consortium’s global conference in Hanoi. The selection committee is reviewing these proposals and will respond to each submission by March 1. A preliminary schedule of sessions will be posted on the conference website on that day. Please contact Meena Hwang, Director of Community Outreach, at meena@ocwconsortium.org if you have any questions about the proposals or the conference.
OCWC Global 2010: Registration is open for the OCW Consortium global conference on Educational Policy and OCW in Hanoi, Vietnam from May 5-7. Government representatives from around the world will join the discussions, exploring ways that OCW can support educational goals in various sectors of society. Some of these include improvement of teaching and learning, workforce training, public education campaigns, life-long learning and bridging secondary and higher education. Reduced early bird registration rates are available through March 15. See http://conference.ocwconsortium.org to register or for more information.
The March webinar is on “Using Creative Commons for OCW Content” on March 4th, Thursday at 10AM EST. Whether you are a beginner or an expert in intellectual property issues, the webinar will be a good place to learn and to share your ideas. OCW Consortium Webinars are open to anyone interested in OCW, and they are free of charge. There is no need to register; simply go to http://breezemeeting.asu.edu/ocwc to join.